To be fair you don't need to read music to write a song, there have been many great songs written by someone who could not read music. I always say 'if it's in you then it will come out', be it song-writing, being a painter, a dancer whatever, if you have a 'gift' it will show itself. If Dave who cannot read music had a song in his head he could have dictated it to Mike, Den' or Len' and they would have 'got it down' for him. The problem was for Dave is that a writer needs 'heart and soul', and Dave possesses neither!!
When I started writing I could only just very slowly read the 'top-line' of a sheet of music, I taught myself that at a very early age when I became interested in music.
People have always been quick to claim that they wrote something when they did not, a good example is Norman Petty who put his name on many of Buddy Holly's songs when he just produced them, Buddy being a generous person and I suppose glad to have the opportunity to record let him do it, but it was 'theft' all the same.
I agreed to give Dave have half the credit for the songs I wrote even though he did not have any input in any of the songs as he was (I thought) a good friend, also I was a fan of the Band and was glad to see them succeed. When Dave's ego got out of hand he wanted the world to think that he was a songwriter, he told me that he wanted to be thought of as 'the John Lennon of the DC5'. I did not like the idea of not having my name on my songs even as a 'co-writer', but as Dave was holding onto my 50% promised share of the song-writing Royalties and 50% of the record royalties I was promised, and at that time my Wife and I and our baby were living in a a very damp flat (apartment) I wanted my money so that we could move out, sadly I only ended up with a fraction of the money owed to me.
And yes, these kind of things went on in the Sixties, artists were robbed by some producers, managers, agents, and as in my case a 'good friend', it was a hard time for some song-writers back then. and I was not the only one who suffered the same fate.
